MTA Thinks About the Future

The year 2030 is in the MTA's sights, as it starts to work on solutions as the city will grow and change. AMNY was at the briefing panel, where director of planning William Wheeler said, "I've never seen a more exciting time in terms of growth in the region." Exciting, yes, but it's also scary when we think about what the MTA will need to do to accomodate for the expected 1.5 million increase in population that's expected in 25 years.

amNY reports the Rockaways, South Bronx and central Brooklyn are "likely sites of future real estate booms," but the MTA will have to "contend with track, rail yard and bus depot constraints." No kidding. Maintenance and union relations - are a big issue for the MTA to come, because subway, train, and bus service will have to be increased, plain and simple. Some interesting things the MTA is keeping its eye on are how people aren't just using the LIRR and Metro-North trains for commuting - many are traveling between towns - and commutes from the city to the suburbs for their work.

News about one project that will be completed by 2020 (that's what the MTA says; we say 2025-2030): The Second Avenue Subway may be started next year, as a tunnel-boring contract will probably be awarded this year. East 92nd Street is where the MTA will drill a hole for the boring machine (hee!) to be launched.

Yesterday, we had a map about subway and population density - where's there a subway, there's a good place to to settle down.

Photograph of a crowd waiting for a subway by HELLO, my name is ____. on Flickr